Shreyas Iyer in hot waters as NCA declares him fit after he pulls out of Ranji Trophy quarter-final citing back pain

With the rising popularization of T20 cricket globally, the dynamics of international cricket are changing rapidly. South Africa sending their novice Test team to the tour of New Zealand as their main players were involved in the SA20 league is a prime example of this tilt towards T20 cricket. 

Although strong cricket boards like that of India, Australia, and England have been able to maintain the sanctity of Test cricket some impact of the global shift can be seen on these boards too. The recent example of some prominent Indian players missing the Ranji Trophy matches to keep themselves fit has irked the Indian Cricket Board. 

The Board even issued an official statement directing players especially those who centrally contracted with the board to take part in India’s premier red-ball domestic tournament if they are not involved with the national team and are fit. But in a recent development, Shreyas Iyer whose domestic team Mumbai has reached the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy has pulled out of the match citing a back problem.

However, a recent report by the Indian Express has revealed that the NCA has deemed Shreyas Iyer fit to play competitive cricket. The report cited an email by Nitin Patel, who is the head of sports science and medicine at the NCA to the Indian Cricket Board where they stated that Iyer has no fresh injuries and is fit to play domestic cricket.

But the report stated that the Mumbai Cricket Association sources revealed that Iyer has backed out from the quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy after complaining of back spasms. Mumbai is set to play against Baroda in the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy which will commence on Friday.

Indian youngsters presiding IPL over domestic cricket

It has been an alarming trend in Indian cricket where players have been ignoring domestic cricket to keep themselves fit for the IPL season. Earlier Ishan Kishan who was been looked at as the replacement of Rishabh Pant in tests pulled out of the South Africa tests citing mental fatigue.

It’s been two months since that and he still hasn’t made himself available for selection as he hasn’t played a single Ranji Trophy this season. Instead, he was seen practising with Hardik Pandya in Baroda which fueled speculations that he is keeping himself fresh for the upcoming season of IPL. 

Now the same reason is being associated with Shreyas Iyer who is trying to keep himself fully fit and fresh for the IPL by not playing for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.